HIGHLIGHTS

Xi called for continuous strengthening of friendly relations between two countries

China's newspapers on Saturday hailed the historical significance of the Modi-Xi informal summit in Wuhan, which was splashed across newspaper front pages.

The story was the lead on the influential Peoples Daily front page, with no less than two photographs of Modi and Xi.

The China Daily in an editorial said, "The beauty of the 'informal' summit between President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wuhan, Hubei province, is that it comes with no baggage, only expectations. It is free of the usual diplomatic frills, somewhat beyond the global media limelight."

"And, if as expected, the 'heart-to-heart' communication between the two leaders on Friday reflected their deepened mutual chemistry. Which, in turn, will be conducive to improving mutual trust between the neighbors and charting the course of long-term bilateral development."

It acknowledged that "mutual suspicion is keeping the two countries from deepening cooperation and working together on regional and international issues, from fighting climate change to improving global governance. The border incident last summer was just one example of what mutual suspicion could lead to, reminding both sides of the disruptive potential of distrust."

"Yet neither Beijing nor New Delhi calls the other an enemy, which means both expect bilateral ties to improve. Indeed, China and India are natural partners, and both realize they carry the hopes of the other developing countries to improve international relations, in order to make the world order more equitable," it said.

"The two leaders have reached many important consensuses via these meetings, which have sent the world a positive signal on China-India friendship and reflected the strong will of the two emerging economies to enhance mutually beneficial cooperation and achieve common development, according to Xi. "The great cooperation between our two great countries can influence the world," Xi said.

Xi suggested that both sides should look at the complete picture of Sino-Indian ties from a strategic perspective, so as to ensure that relations between the two countries always proceed in the right direction. He called for continuous strengthening of friendly relations between the two countries so that their friendship will continue to flow forward like the Yangtze and Ganges rivers."